Sage Advice
Sage Advice is a social platform I designed to help seniors feel more connected, confident, and valued by turning them into advice-giving sages within a fun yet familiar digital space.
Working closely with seniors throughout this project was a deeply meaningful experience that shaped both the design and spirit of Sage Advice, reminding me how powerful thoughtful, inclusive design can be in helping people.
My role
Timeline
4 months
Collaborators
Simon Hauke, Nico Gevoga
Many seniors lack sufficient mental stimulation, new experiences, and meaningful social connections, critical factors that significantly impact their quality of life and well-being
This led our team to ask: how might we provide design solutions to empower an aging population to make healthier lifestyle decisions, and build intergenerational connections?
A social media platform that empowers seniors to connect independently, build routine through meaningful interaction, and create fun, intergenerational relationships.
At its core, Sage Advice functions as an ask-and-answer community, similar to Reddit—but with a unique focus on scheduling video calls. Users can seek wisdom from seniors, engage in thoughtful conversations, and climb the Sage leaderboards by actively contributing advice. Our goal was to transform seniors into valued mentors in a connected digital space.
Our research highlighted the importance of designing for connection, confidence, and community.
We uncovered a deep emotional and cognitive gap in the lives of many older adults. Seniors frequently experience isolation, boredom, and a lack of mental stimulation.
While we began with a minimalist approach to reduce cognitive load, user testing revealed a surprising insight: many seniors preferred more robust functionality. They expressed a desire for interfaces that mirrored the complexity and flexibility they were already accustomed to, prompting us to evolve our design to better match their expectations and digital habits.
The core interaction in Sage Advice is scheduling, confirming, and joining a call with a Sage. We prioritized familiarity, designing each step to feel reassuring, and seamless.
Since our primary goal is to get Serfs booked into calls with sages as often and effortlessly as possible, we designed a streamlined, queue-like system that keeps advice requests visible and active. Users receive real-time status updates and reminders across the platform—regardless of what page they’re on—reducing drop-off and making it easy to follow through.
Sage Advice evolved from a simple idea into a fully realized platform concept tailored to the needs and preferences of older adults.
On a personal level, working directly with seniors online and in person deepened my understanding of inclusive design and the importance of building technology that empowers, rather than oversimplifies, the user experience. This project not only reinforced my ability to translate research into thoughtful interaction and motion design but also gave me a new appreciation for designing with empathy and purpose.